Intermediary Capacities of Elites in Swedish Civil Society

Civil society organisations (CSOs) perform key intermediary roles in liberal democracies, yet their ability to link citizens and political decision-makers is under strain since major CSOs show elitist tendencies. Instead of analysing advancement through hierarchies of democratic representation, this chapter takes stock of Bourdieu’s theory of social practice and the related concepts of habitus and capital to understand what it takes to advance civil society structures. Based on interviews with top leaders, we identify two routes of advancement. A long internal route is shaped by leaders’ civic habitus, as they grew up in families with engaged parents. Their career is shaped by, and depends on, long-lasting commitment to one organisation and acquiring organisational capital unique to the organisation. An emerging route opens up for mobility between organisations as professional civic managers, as long as they learn how to act as a committed leader. This points to the relevance of analysing civil society intermediation as shaped both by internal systems of political representation, yet also organisational socialisation and organisational hierarchies. The chapter concludes that contemporary civil society faces a democratic deficit. Although it functions as a school of democracy, its leadership draws on a narrow and exclusive pool of candidates.